


D.Va Drafted

by TechnoLichy



Series: Overwatch: Untold Stories [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 10:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7711279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnoLichy/pseuds/TechnoLichy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>D.Va didn't dodge the draft, but she wasn't happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	D.Va Drafted

“Get wrekt!” Hana shouted through the mic. She’d done very well and was ecstatic to have been streaming the whole time. She was just about to close the stream when the power snapped off. Her station was on a UPS, she was no scrub, but her battery backup didn’t power the rest of the house. Or the internet. She took out her phone and saw she had no signal.  
“What the-”  
The house shook and an enormous booming noise shattered her windows. She quickly dove away from the window before the glass shards could cut her and started running. An evacuation alarm rang out.  
“No… It can’t be…” She murmured as she ran out of the house. Hundreds of people abandoned their cars and houses and ran with her inland. She heard an awful groan and the staccato of automatic weapons. Looking over her shoulder she saw what she had been afraid of. The Omnic Colossus was here again. And MEKA wasn’t fighting it. Her blood ran cold and she ran faster.  
As she ran into the emergency shelter and began helping people climb down into it. She heard jet engines and saw bombs begin to explode on the omnic. When the shelter could not fit any one more, she closed it’s heavy door and waited, listening to the sound of thunder.

“The MEKA program is under fire for failing to engage the Omnic Colossus,” The newscaster announced. “It is being said that the failure is in the drone protocols being hacked by the Omnic-”  
Hana turned off the TV. Power had been restored and the reconstruction had begun. She was lucky enough to not need to repair her home besides the windows and she had an extra set in the basement. Prices always shot up after the Omnic came so she prepared. The moment she stood up to get a drink there was a knock on the door.  
“I’m sorry I don’t have any more glass.” She said as she opened the door. Then she saw the highly decorated soldier and she kicked herself for assuming he was a beggar. “Oh sorry how can I-”  
“Hana Song?” he asked abruptly.  
“Uh...yeah?””  
“You’ve been drafted. As of now you are inducted into the Mobile Exoforce of the Korean Army.” He presented her with a large envelope with official looking seals on it. “You are to report to Seoul Military Headquarters tomorrow at 1200. A car will be sent for you.” He turned and walked away.  
Stunned, Hana stared at the space he was standing in for a several seconds.  
“Hey! Wait! I’m not a soldier!” she shouted after the man.  
“You are now.” He said over his shoulder without even slowing.

Hana fell heavily in her ergonomic chair. Her PC rig was on but she couldn’t think of what to do with it. She stared at the monitor until an IM popped up on her screen.

B-Role: Hey I just saw on the news that you’ve been drafted! Get out of there before they make it official!  
D.Va: Too late…  
B-Role: Shit…..What are you gonna do?  
D.Va: IDK….It just happened....  
B-Role: You think you should run?  
D.Va: Where would I go?  
B-Role: IDK  
D.Va: I’m gonna go to bed, TTYL  
D.Va Left the Chat

Over the next few days she was sworn into the military and issued a skin tight pilot suit and a light gun. She’d never fired a gun in person and the weight scared her. A lot of things about her situation scared her. She tried not to think about it too much but she couldn’t get over the knowledge that they were going to make her risk her life fighting. She couldn’t think of why they’d have picked her over all the people she knew.  
Now she and every professional gamer she’d ever known in Korea were lined up on a parade ground in the middle of nowhere in matching green and spandex. There was a lot of fear in the air. She looked around until a drill sergeant barked at her and she returned to attention. A truck drove up to them, it had a Mech on the back of it and man sat upon it. The truck stopped and the man stood. He peered over the lot of them for several seconds.  
“Hello. I am Captain Park.” he said, voice amplified by the mech. “I know you must all have many questions and I hope to clear some of that up. You’ve been drafted for specific skills you possess that no one in the military does. You’ve no doubt heard speculation that the mech drones can no longer protect us.” The silent crowd looked at each other nodding, the rumours had spread everywhere. “The government has denied this... But I’m here to say it is true. More than they realize. At this point, we are effectively defenseless.”  
People gasped and looked around in shock. Everyone knew it was only the Mech’s that prevented the Omnic from destroying everything it wished. Even with the drones not working it was only the mech’s being remote controlled that stopped the beast. Park waited until the murmur died down.  
“Yes it’s an unpleasant truth. Unfortunately the Omnic has figured out how to beat the drones and we can’t find a way to override it. So we’ve come up with a new solution. And it’s you. I am standing on a Mech but unlike any you’ve ever seen. It is not a drone. It’s a suit.”  
He slid down the back and of the mech and with a smooth transition got inside it. Taking the controls in his hands he walked the mech off the truck and up to the line of new recruits.  
“This is what you will be doing. We will teach you how to pilot these mechs, from there you will show us what you can do. These are the finest weapons Korea can make. And you are our best hope of using them. If you can not... There is no hope.”

The training was grueling. Hana ran more than she ever had in her life. She climbed, jumped, and rolled through hundreds of obstacle courses. She fired hundreds of rounds through her light gun and learned to take care of it. And she spent more time in the simulator than in the real world. The simulator was a spherical cockpit that raised off the ground. It shook rolled and jumped like the real thing. Several recruits, they were always called recruits never draftees, washed out in it. Either because they got motion sickness or because they had claustrophobic episodes.  
Hana tried to make herself wash out but whenever she tried to fake a panic attack she just got punished for faking. A lot of people were punished often when they found out there was a chance to leave. Gamers weren’t the most obedient individuals and these drill instructors were excellent in sniffing out a phony.  
Then one day they brought out the real thing. The school only had 10 mechs for the whole class of over 100 so it took a while before it was Hana’s turn. When she was finally given control she remembered something she used to say to her mother. “If you do something poorly enough you won’t be asked to do it again.”  
When the instructor finally cleared her to move she immediately turned on the rocket thrusters and did a barrel roll finishing by crashing into Captain Park’s truck. 

She expected to wake up in the sick bay but instead she woke up in Captain Park’s office. She was sitting in a large leather chair across from the man and he was filling out a large stack of papers.  
“Ah I see you’ve graced us with your presence at last. Pretty funny stunt you pulled. How are you feeling?”  
“I’m ok.” Hana said weakly, “I just...panicked I guess.”  
“Sure you did. You know that suit you’re wearing has some of the most advanced biometrics instrumentation money can buy in it right? Right up to the crash you’re BP was stable and your heart beat was calm and steady.” Hana blushed realizing that no one would ever fool the instructors here, and all of her attempts at washing out must have been laughable.  
“I….I just…” She tried to stall to think of something to say.  
“You know what else is funny, you’ve got the lowest score I’ve ever seen on the sim, but you pulled the trickiest maneuver ever performed in a mech on your first flight. We haven’t even put those thrusters into the sims yet because we didn’t want to overwhelm you all.”  
“...The sims are scored?” she asked surprised and secretly horrified. If word got around that she was flunking out of a computer game even if she did get out her reputation would be ruined. The great D.Va, washed out because she was the worst mech pilot ever? Who would sponsor her?  
“Of course,how else are we going to pick a winner? Someone’s got to be head of the class.” Park said with a confused look.  
“Oh well that makes sense….does that come with any prize money or….something?” he just smiled and pushed the sheaf of papers aside. He steepled his hands in front of his face and studied the young woman across from him.  
“Hana, you are the best gamer in the world. You have the fastest recorded reflexes and your tactical insight has led you to being undefeated for almost 3 years...Why aren’t you trying harder in the sims?” she looked away out the window and blushed deeper.  
“Well it’s not like I wanted to be here...I’d never even shot a bb gun before coming here. And all of the sudden a soldier tells me that I’m going to be forced to risk my life... This is all too much.” he leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk looking thoughtful.  
“That’s fair. You weren’t even asked. I know that sucks. But you do know that if your class can’t fight that Omnic...we’re all dead?” Hana blushed impossibly even deeper, she thought her skin must be boiling off. Park stood and walked around his desk and sat on it’s lip. “You are our last hope Hana, and all those people out there? They look up to you. You’re the best there is and you’re ranked as an F class pilot. What do you think that makes them feel their chances are?”  
“I….not good.” she said lowering her gaze to the floor.  
“This situation is highly unusual I grant you that. So let me ask you... What would you do to motivate you and your peers if you were in my position?”  
“Well…..”

 

Notice to all MEKA pilots:

From this point forward all pilots reaching A or S class will be granted:

Permission to customize the color and superficial appearance of their Mechs, Flight Suits, and light pistols.  
Permission to assume any previously held alias / screen name  
Permission to stream combat footage under alias / screen name  
Permission to retain and receive sponsorships per approval of MEKA command.

There will also be a leader board posted in all barracks and available over the web of rankings in sim combat until pilots are active duty. Then it will show combat efficiency.

That is all.

Captain Park

 

“I told you that kid was something else.” Jack Morrison said over the lip of his glass. Staring out the window at the fleet of mechs spraying each other with paint.  
“You were not mistaken.” granted Park walking over to join him. “Thank you for your suggestion. Efficiency is up 35%. Combat effectiveness is up 60%, Morale is up so high we stopped measuring. That leaderboard is doing more to motivate them than a hundred drill sergeants ever could.”  
“They’re a different breed that’s for sure.” Jack said putting down the scotch. “I can’t say I approve of the draft but…”  
“We don’t have much of a choice. The whole program is a state secret. If you weren’t strike commander you’d never of heard of it.” Park said sadly before draining his drink. “They’re kids mostly. The youngest group I’ve ever trained. But what they do in a mech…..the first day I walked one up to them to show them what they’d be doing...I almost walked through them because I couldn’t get it to stop. D.Va did a barrel roll the first time she got into one.”  
“I understand. It’s a hard choice, but survival always is. I just wish we could offer more help.” he said as he watched a pilot eject from her mech shooting her pistol in the air with pinpoint accuracy. “When do you think they’ll be ready?”  
“Oh...maybe 3 months? It’s hard to say, they’ve never seen any real combat.” a concerned look came over Park’s face. “I worry that they think this is all a game. It keeps them cheerful...but it doesn’t help them if they can’t face the real thing.”  
“Unfortunately there’s only one way to find out.” Jack said with a rueful smile. He got up to leave and handed Park a sealed tube.  
“Oh! You remembered! Did everyone sign it?” Park said taking out the poster inside.  
“We sure did. I even strong armed Reyes into signing it.” Park smiled wide knowing how infamous the man was for hating publicity.  
“It seems silly, bribing our troops with prizes and such but this is a new kind of war and these are a new kind of warrior. This is a great help Jack.”  
“Don’t mention it. Anything else I can do, you let me know. And if you don’t mind keep me up to date on Song. She’s gonna be something special.”

D.Va sat back admiring her new poster. A prize for winning the 100 man free for all. All of the Overwatch agents in heroic poses! And it was signed! Gabriel Reyes was notorious for never signing anything for fans. To D.Va it was priceless and it deserved a position of respect, which is why it now hung in a protective frame over her work bench in her mech’s maintenance bay. They didn’t need that much maintenance really, the bay was primarily used for customizing mechs and storing spares, which is why it always smelled of paint.  
She checked the leaderboard on the main wall and saw she still had a comfortable lead but she could probably increase it if she practiced her thruster flying. It wasn’t quite flying because the mechs didn’t generate lift, even the wings some pilots installed served only as decoration. It was more like trying to steer a rocket and it was very easy to over correct and smash into the ground.  
She was making reservations for the sim when the alarms started to blare. 

“Listen up everyone!” Park yelled from on top of his new truck. “There’s an omnic attack predicted to take place in about 2 hours! This is the real deal people, no extra lives, no respawning! Overwatch is coming to transport you to the beach head, your spare mechs are going to be loaded into the carrier drone. Line up in rows of ten and be ready to board.”  
The ships came and left in less than a minute. D.Va was going to be in the 5th group of mechs deployed and while she felt snubbed that the leader board champ wasn’t first she also felt every bit of trepidation she felt when she was drafted. When it was her turn to board she felt like the mech was moving on it’s own accord. It ambled up the side of the drop ship into a crew cabin large enough to have it’s own basketball hoop. She turned and saw that the other ships were much smaller and wondered why she was the only one to board this massive ship that could fit six people, even in mechs.  
“Why don’t you come up here and strap in, the mech will be fine back there.” the pilot said as the ramp ascended and locked with a hiss. She didn’t want to leave the mech, it was comfortingly familiar. But she did as she was asked and sat in the co pilot’s acceleration couch and strapped in.  
As they took off she looked over the camp she’d spent almost half a year training on and noted how unlike a military base it looked. The water tower was painted in her trademark pink and purple with her bunny on it, the parade ground was covered in mech footprints and the barracks reminded her of a kids campground. Tiny buildings broken filled with different clans (the official term was squads) And in the center was a large building where the high five on the scoreboard had much more lavish living spaces.  
“You ready for this?” The pilot asked. D.Va shook herself out of her revelrie and looked at the pilot for the first time. She could not believe her eyes. It was Jack Morrison. In the flesh.  
“You’re….OMG, I’m your biggest fan!”  
“Hahaha, I’ve heard as much.” He said smiling widely. “How are you feeling about your first combat op?”  
“Well….I’m scared….I’ve never been so scared… I don’t know if I can do this.” D.Va fought back the watering of her eyes, not wanting to embarass herself in front of one of her idols.  
“We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt that way.” Jack smiled, politely focusing on the the flight controls despite auto pilot being engaged. “I remember my first op. Our base was attacked by omnics in the middle of the night. We had to fight them off until 3 hours after dawn. I was shaking so bad I missed more than half my shots and by the end of the night I was pretty sure I’d pissed myself.”  
“How’d you get past it?”  
“Well, for me I just focused on the fact that if we fell the people we were protecting would fall with us. And I couldn’t let that happen.” The two were quiet for a minute before D.Va gathered the courage to speak again.  
“How long did it take to get over that fear?”  
“I never did.” He said smiling at her. “Every time we see action I’m terrified from start to finish. I don’t relax until everyone is home safe.” This seemed to worry the poor girl even more and Jack reminded himself why he was here. “Let me ask you this. That Starcraft tournament, with half a million riding on it. Were you scared you would lose?”  
“Well... I always worry, there’s a lot more than prize money involved in tournaments.”  
“Sure is. Well this is no different. Sure the stakes are high but you’ve been here before. How’d you get over that anxiety?”  
“I practiced...talked to my friends...and reminded myself I was the best.”  
“Well you’ve had a lot of practice, I hope we can be friends, and-” Jack leaned over and pulled up the leaderboard for MEKA. “- it seems you are still the best by a long shot. You know the old mechs worked in keeping the Omnic out, how many times did you beat their AI in training?”  
“OMG…..You’re right...The AI were like playing on easy mode! They never stood a chance against me!” D.Va said in genuine excitement, that small realization sparking off a series of revalations. “We creamed those bots for breakfast and what we’re fighting couldn’t even beat them without cheating!”  
“That’s right, and if they could beat back the omnic, just imagine what you’re capable of.” Jack said with a grin, D.Va looked positively ecstatic. “You’re this thing’s worst nightmare.”  
“You’re right! Thank you so much!”  
“You bet, we’re almost there so why don’t you suit up and get ready for launch.”  
“Yessir!”  
“Give’em hell D.Va!”

 

As D.Va booted up her mech and got comfortable inside it she opened her comm channel to the rest of the her unit. She noticed that all of them had high blood pressure and erratic heart beats.  
“Hey everyone it’s D.Va! I just wanted to say that we’ve been practicing hard for this fight, we’ve all improved a lot and I just have to say...I’ll see your scores at the bottom of the leaderboard! Winkyface!”  
The channel filled with laughter and jeers as nervous soldiers reverted into confident gamers again. They started trash talking and making bets. She knew they would win. It wasn’t even a question anymore and it wasn’t to her comrades either. It was no longer about survival. It was about who would win the most. And it was going to be D.Va.  
The door to the drop ship opened and Jack Morrison gave her the thumbs up. She struck a pose in her mech before running off the ramp in mid air and using the jets to rocket over to the massive robot she was going to shred.  
“Time to raise my APM!” She shouted as she opened fire without a trace of fear.


End file.
